In the same ship that brought Arundel from Flanders came that cunning old Bishop2 of Aquila, who was afterwards Philip’s ambassador in England. He conveyed to Feria the King’s real wishes with regard to Elizabeth’s marriage, which were somewhat at variance3 with those which appeared on the surface. Philip had now definitely taken upon himself the championship of the Catholic supremacy4, and his interests were hourly drifting further away from those of his Austrian kinsmen5, who were largely dependent upon the reforming German princes. This was the principal reason why Sussex and other moderate Protestants in England were promoting an Austrian marriage which, it was assumed, would conciliate Philip without binding6 England to the ultra-Catholic party. The Bishop’s instructions were to throw cold water on the scheme whilst outwardly appearing to favour it, but if he saw that such a marriage was inevitable8, then he25 was to get the whole credit of it for his master, who was to subsidise his impecunious9 cousin, the Archduke, and make him the instrument of Spain. Feria confessed himself puzzled. If he was not to forward the Archduke Ferdinand, he did not know, he said, whom he could suggest. Everybody kept him at arm’s length and he could only repeat current gossip. Some people thought the Earl of Arundel would be the man, others the Earl of Westmoreland; then Lord Howard’s son, and then Sir William Pickering; “every day there is a new cry raised about a husband.” “At present,” he said, “I see no disposition10 to enter into the discussion of any proposal on your Majesty11’s own behalf, either on her part or that of the Council, and when it has to be approached it should be mentioned first to her alone.” The first step, he thought, should be to arouse the jealousy12 of each individual councillor of the Queen’s marriage with any Englishman; and at the same time to work upon the Queen’s pride by hinting that she would hardly stoop to a marriage inferior to that of her sister. He thought, however, that a marriage with Philip would scarcely be acceptable, as he could not live in England, and Feria was still in hope that if they took any foreigner the Archduke Ferdinand would be the man. Feria’s plan of campaign was an ingenious one. After he had aroused Elizabeth’s jealousy of her dead sister and deprecated the idea of the degradation14 to the Queen of a marriage with a subject, “we can take those whom she might marry here and pick them to pieces one by one, which will not require much rhetoric15, for there is not a man amongst them worth anything, counting the married ones and all. If,26 after this, she inclines to your Majesty, it will be necessary for you to send me orders whether I am to carry it any further or throw cold water on it and set up the Archduke Ferdinand, for I see no other person we can propose to whom she would agree.”16
Philip had sent to the Queen a present of jewels by the Bishop of Aquila, with which she was delighted, and assured Feria that those who said her sympathies were French told an untruth. She was indeed quite coquettish with him sometimes, but he felt that he was outwitted. He could get no information as he did in the last reign13. The councillors fought shy of him, anxious as ever for bribes16 and pensions, but willing to give no return for them, for the very good reason that they had nothing to give, they being as hopelessly in the dark as every one else as to the Queen’s intentions. “Indeed I am afraid that one fine day we shall find this woman married, and I shall be the last man in the place to know anything about it,” said Feria. In the meanwhile Arundel was ruining himself with ostentatious expenditure17; borrowing vast sums of money from Italian bankers and scattering18 gifts of jewels of great value amongst the ladies who surrounded the Queen. He was a man far into middle age at the time, with two married daughters, the Duchess of Norfolk and Lady Lumley, and was in antiquity19 of descent the first of English nobles; but one can imagine how the keen young woman on the throne must have smiled inwardly at the idea of the empty-headed, flighty old fop, aspiring20 to be her partner. “There is a great deal of talk also,” writes Feria, “lately about the Queen marrying the Duke27 Adolphus, brother of the King of Denmark. One of the principal recommendations they find in him is that he is a heretic, but I am persuading them that he is a very good Catholic and not so comely21 as they make him out to be, as I do not think he would suit us.” At last, after the usual tedious deliberation, the prayers and invocations for Divine guidance, Philip made up his mind that he, like another Metius Curtius, would save his cause by sacrificing himself. He approached the subject in a true spirit of martyrdom. Feria had been repeating constantly—almost offensively—how unpopular he was in England, ever since Mary died. He had, he was told, not a man in his favour, he was distrusted and disliked, and so on, but yet he so completely deceived himself with regard to the support to be obtained by Elizabeth from her people through her national policy and personal popularity, as to write to Feria announcing his gracious intention of sacrificing himself for the good of the Catholic Church and marrying the Queen of England on condition of her becoming a Catholic and obtaining secret absolution from the Pope. “In this way it will be evident and manifest that I am serving the Lord in marrying her and that she has been converted by my act.... You will, however, not propose any conditions until you see how the Queen is disposed towards the matter itself, and mark well that you must commence to broach23 the subject with the Queen alone, as she has already opened a way to such an approach.” It must have been evident to Feria at this time (January, 1559) that the Queen could not marry his master without losing her crown. The Protestant party28 were now paramount24, the reformers had flocked back from Switzerland and Germany, and Elizabeth had cast in her lot with them. To acknowledge the Pope’s power of absolution would have been to confess herself a bastard25 and an usurper26. There was only one possible Catholic sovereign of England and that was Mary Queen of Scots, and it is difficult to see what could have been Philip’s drift in making such an offer, which, if it had been accepted, would have vitiated his wife’s claim to the crown of England and have strengthened that of the French candidate.
In any case Elizabeth perceived it quickly enough, and when Feria approached her and delivered a letter from Philip to her, she began coyly to fence with the question. She knew she could not marry Philip; but she was vain and greedy of admiration27, and it would be something to refuse such an offer if she could get it put into a form which would enable her to refuse it. So she began to profess28 her maiden29 disinclination to change her state; “but,” says Feria, “as I saw whither she was tending, I cut short the reply, and by the conversation which followed ... as well as the hurry she was in to give me the answer, I soon understood what the answer would be ... to shelve the business with fair words.” The end of it was that he refused to take any answer at all, unless it were a favourable31 one, and so deprived Elizabeth of the satisfaction of saying she had actually rejected his master’s offer—which was a grievance32 with her for many years afterwards.
Of all this the multitude knew nothing. They were busy with speculation33 elsewhere. “Il Schafanoya,”29 the Italian gossip-monger, gives an interesting account of the coronation ceremony and the self-sufficient pomposity34 of Arundel, who was Lord Steward35, “with a silver wand a yard long, commanding everybody, from the Duke (of Norfolk) downwards36.”17 Lord Robert Dudley as Master of the Horse “led a fair white hackney covered with cloth of gold after the Queen’s litter,” but no one as yet seemed to regard him as her possible consort37. That came afterwards. Schafanoya, writing to the Mantuan ambassador in Brussels (January, 1559), says: “Some persons declare that she will take the Earl of Arundel, he being the chief peer of this realm, notwithstanding his being old in comparison with the Queen. This report is founded on the constant daily favours he receives in public and private from her Majesty. Others assert that she will take a very handsome youth, eighteen or twenty years of age and robust39, judging from passion, and because at dances and other public places she prefers him to any one else. A third opinion is that she will marry an individual who until now has been in France on account of his religion, though he has not yet made his appearance, it being well known how much she loved him. He is a very handsome gallant40 gentleman whose name I forget. But all are agreed that she will take an Englishman, although the ambassadors of the King of Sweden seek the contrary.”
The “very handsome youth” was perhaps the Earl of Oxford41; the “handsome gentleman” was certainly Sir William Pickering, who for a time was the favourite candidate. It is known that30 there had been love passages long before between Elizabeth and him, but to what extent was never discovered. He can hardly have been a very stable character, for he had fled to France under Mary, but had very soon entered into treacherous42 correspondence with the Spanish party to spy upon the actions of the Carews and the rest of the Protestant exiles. Shortly before Mary’s death he had been commissioned to go to Germany and bring thence to England a regiment43 of mercenaries which had been raised for Mary. They were, however, used by Philip for his own purposes, and when Elizabeth ascended44 the throne, Pickering thought proper to have a long diplomatic illness at Dunkirk, to learn how he would be received in England after his more than doubtful dealings. As soon as he was satisfied that bygones would be bygones, he came to England in fine feather. Tiepolo writes to the Doge, February 23rd: “Concerning her marriage it still continues to be said that she will take that Master Pickering, who from information received by me, is about thirty-six years of age, of tall stature45, handsome, and very successful with women, for he is said to have enjoyed the intimacy46 of many and great ones.”18 Parliament had sent a deputation to the Queen to urge her to marry, and to represent the disadvantages of a foreign match, to which the Queen had given a sympathetic but cautious answer. This had raised the hopes of Pickering to a great height, and in the early spring he made his appearance. He had lingered too long, however. Lord Robert Dudley had already come to the front.31 Feria wrote to Philip on the 18th of April: “During the last few days Lord Robert has come so much into favour that he does whatsoever47 he pleases with affairs, and it is even said that her Majesty visits him in his chamber48 day and night. People talk of this so freely that they go so far as to say that his wife has a malady49 in one of her breasts and the Queen is only waiting for her to die to marry Lord Robert. I can assure your Majesty that matters have reached such a pass that I have been brought to consider whether it would not be well to approach Lord Robert on your Majesty’s behalf, promising50 him your help and favour and coming to terms with him.” At the same time the Swedish ambassador was again pressing the suit of Prince Eric; but he must have been extremely maladroit51, for he offended Elizabeth at the outset by saying that his master’s son was still of the same mind, and asked for a reply to the letter he had sent her. “What letter?” said the Queen. “The letter I brought your Majesty.” Elizabeth replied that she was now Queen of England, and if he required an answer he must address her as such. She added that she did not know whether his master would leave his kingdom to marry her, but she could assure him that she would not leave hers to be the monarch52 of the world, and in the meanwhile she would say neither yes nor no. A messenger was sent off with this cold comfort, and came back with fine presents of furs and tapestries53, and for a time Swedish money was lavished54 on the courtiers very freely—and it is curious that the King of Sweden is always spoken of as being one of the richest of monarchs—but32 the ambassador became a standing38 joke and a laughing-stock of the Court ladies as soon as his presents ran out. A more dignified55 embassy from Eric shortly afterwards arrived with a formal offer of his hand, but they were, as the Bishop of Aquila says, treated in a similar manner, and ridiculed56 to their own faces in Court masques represented before them.
A much more serious negotiation57 was running its course at the same time. When the Emperor had been informed that Philip had desisted from the pursuit of the match for himself, he begged him to support the suit of the Archduke Ferdinand. It was considered unadvisable to mention at first which of the Archdukes was the suitor, but Philip himself made no secret of his preference to Ferdinand, who was a narrow bigot of his own school; so the Spanish ambassador in England was instructed to forward the matter to the best of his ability, in conjunction with an imperial ambassador who was to be sent for the purpose. When the instructions arrived, matters had gone so far that a secretary had already come to London from the Emperor with letters for the Queen and a portrait of Ferdinand. This had been arranged by Sir Thomas Challoner, who had recently been in Vienna; but much doubt existed as to the sincerity58 of Philip’s professions of good-will towards the affair. Indeed, those who were most in favour of it appear to have thought, not unreasonably59, that the marriage would become impossible if it were hampered60 with conditions dictated61 by Spain. The Austrian match certainly had influential62 support at Court. Cecil, Sussex, and all of Dudley’s many enemies thought at33 the time that it offered the best way of checking his growing favour, and forwarded it accordingly. In April Feria wrote: “They talk a great deal about the marriage with the Archduke Ferdinand and seem to like it, but for my part I believe she will never make up her mind to anything that is good for her. Sometimes she appears to want to marry him, and speaks like a woman who will only accept a great prince; and then they say she is in love with Lord Robert and never lets him leave her. If my spies do not lie, which I believe they do not, for a certain reason which they have recently given me, I understand she will not bear children; but if the Archduke is a man, even if she should die without any, he will be able to keep the kingdom with the support of your Majesty.”
When Pickering finally arrived, therefore, he found the field pretty well occupied, but his advent63 caused considerable stir. He was at once surrounded by those who for various reasons were equally against Dudley and a Catholic prince. Two days after his arrival Dudley was sent off hunting to Windsor, and Sir William was secretly introduced into the Queen’s presence; and a few days afterwards went publicly to the palace and stayed several hours by the Queen’s side. “They are,” wrote Feria, “betting four to one in London that he will be king.... If these things were not of such great importance and so lamentable64, they would be very ridiculous.”19
Pickering’s arrival at Court is thus spoken of by Schafanoya, writing on the 10th of May, 1559: “The day before yesterday there came Sir William34 Pickering, who is regarded by all people as the future husband of the Queen. He remains65 at home, courted by many lords of the Council and others, but has not yet appeared at Court. It is said they wished in Parliament to settle what title they should give him and what dignity, but nothing was done. Many deem this to be a sign that she will marry the Archduke Ferdinand, but as yet there is no foundation for this, although the news comes from Flanders. Meanwhile my Lord Robert Dudley is in very great favour and very intimate with her Majesty. On this subject I ought not to report the opinion of many persons. I doubt whether my letter may not miscarry or be read, wherefore it is better to keep silence than to speak ill.”20 When Challoner had returned from Vienna he had brought with him full descriptions of the Emperor’s sons. Ferdinand was a bigot and a milksop, and Charles, the younger Archduke, was said to have narrow shoulders and a great head. So when Baron66 Ravenstein arrived in London on his matrimonial embassy the Queen was quite ready for him. Ravenstein himself was as devout67 a Catholic as his master, and was received very coolly at first. The Queen told him she would marry no man whom she had not seen, and would not trust portrait painters; and much more to the same effect. To his second audience Ravenstein was accompanied by the Bishop of Aquila, as it was desirable that, if anything came of the negotiation, Spain should get the benefit of it. It soon became clear to the wily churchman that Ferdinand would never do. He says: “We were received on35 Sunday at one, and found the Queen, very fine, in the presence-chamber looking on at the dancing. She kept us there a long while, and then entered her room with us.” The Bishop pressed her, in his bland68 way, to favourably69 consider the offers of the Emperor’s ambassador; “but I did not name the Archduke, because I suspected she would reply excluding them both. She at once began, as I feared, to talk about not wishing to marry, and wanted to reply in that sense; but I cut short the colloquy70 by saying that I did not seek an answer, and only begged her to hear the ambassador.” He then stood aside and chatted with Cecil, who gave him to understand that they would not accept Ferdinand, “as they have quite made up their minds that he would upset their heresy,”21 and went on to speak of the various approaches that had already been made to the Queen; politely regretting that affinity71 and religious questions had made the marriage with Philip impossible. In the meanwhile poor Ravenstein was making but slow progress with the Queen, who soon reduced him to dazed despair, and the Bishop again took up the running, artfully begging her to be plain and frank in this business, “as she knew how honestly and kindly72 the worthy73 Germans negotiated.” And then, cleverly taking advantage of what he had just heard from Cecil, he said that he had been told that the Archduke had been represented to her as a young monster, very different from what he was; “for, although both brothers are comely, this one who was offered to her now was the younger and more likely to please her than the one who had been spoken of before.36 I thought best to speak in this way, as I understood in my talk with Cecil that it was Ferdinand they dreaded74.” The Queen at this pricked75 up her ears, and asked the Bishop of whom he was speaking. He told her the Archduke Charles, who was a very fit match for her as Ferdinand was not available. “When she was quite satisfied of this,” says the Bishop, “she went back again to her nonsense, saying that she would rather be a nun76 than marry a man she did not know, on the faith of portrait painters.” She then hinted that she wished Charles to visit her in person, even if he came in disguise. Her thirst for admiration and homage77 was insatiable, and, popular parvenue as she was, the idea of princes of spotless lineage humbling78 themselves before her very nearly led her into a quagmire79 more than once. She probably had not the slightest intention of marrying Charles at the time, but it would have been a great feather in her cap if she could have brought a prince of the house of Austria as a suitor to her feet. But the Bishop was a match for her on this occasion. “I do not know whether she is jesting ... but I really believe she would like to arrange for this visit in disguise. So I turned it to a joke, and said we had better discuss the substance of the business.... I would undertake that the Archduke would not displease80 her.” The Bishop having soothed81 the Queen with persiflage82 of this sort, disconsolate83 Ravenstein was called back rather more graciously, and told that, on the Bishop’s request, the Queen would appoint a committee of the Council to hear his proposals.
In the meanwhile Dudley and Pickering were man?uvring for the position of first English candidate.37 Sir William had now a fine suite84 of rooms in the palace, and was ruffling85 bravely, giving grand entertainments, and dining in solitary86 state by himself, with minstrels playing in the gallery, rather than feast, like the other courtiers of his rank, at one of the tables of the household. He pooh-poohed Ravenstein and his mission and said that the Queen would laugh at him and all the rest of them, as he knew she meant to die a maid. Pickering appears to have rather lost his head with his new grandeur87, and soon drops out of the scene, upon which only the keenest wits could hope to survive. His insolence88 had aroused the indignation of the greater nobles, but somehow it was only the least pugnacious89 of them with whom he quarrelled. The Earl of Bedford, who from all accounts seems to have been a misshapen monstrosity with an enormous head, said something offensive about Pickering at a banquet, and a challenge from the irate90 knight91 was the immediate92 result; Dudley, of all men, being the bearer thereof, always at this time ready to wound the extreme Protestant party, to which Bedford belonged. But Pickering was as distasteful to Catholics as to Protestants. On one occasion he was about to enter the private chapel93 inside the Queen’s apartments at Whitehall, when he was met at the door by the Earl of Arundel, who told him he ought to know that that was no place for him, but was reserved for the lords of the Council. Pickering answered that he knew that very well, and he also knew that Arundel was an impudent94 knave95. The Earl was no hero, and Pickering went swaggering about the Court for days telling the story. With such a swashbuckler38 as this for a rival, it is not surprising that the handsome and youthful Dudley rapidly passed him in the race for his mistress’s favour. Dudley played his game cleverly. His idea was first to put all English aspirants96 out of the running by ostensibly favouring the match with the Archduke, whilst he himself was strengthening his influence over the Queen, in the certainty that, when matters of religion came to be discussed, difficulties might be raised at any moment which would break off the Austrian negotiations97. In the meanwhile the Queen coquetted with dull-witted Ravenstein, and persuaded him that if the Archduke would come over and she liked him, she would marry him, although she warned the ambassador not to give his master the trouble of coming so far to see so ugly a lady as she was. Instead of paying her the compliment for which she was angling, he maladroitly98 asked her whether she wished him to write that to the Archduke. “Certainly not,” she replied, “on my account, for I have no intention of marrying.” She jeered99 at Ferdinand and his devotions, but displayed a discreet100 maidenly101 interest in Charles, and, it is easy to see, promptly102 extracted from Ravenstein all the knowledge he possessed103, much to Bishop Quadra’s anxiety. Feria had gone back to Philip, with the assurance that she never meant to marry, and that it was “all pastime,” but Quadra thought that she would be driven into matrimony by circumstances. “The whole business of these people is to avoid any engagement that will upset their wickedness. I believe that when once they are satisfied about this they will not be averse104 to Charles. I am not sure about her, for I do not39 understand her. Amongst other qualities which she says her husband must possess is that he should not sit at home all day among the cinders105, but should in time of peace keep himself employed in warlike exercises.” For many reasons it suited Elizabeth to show an inclination30 to the match; for she could thus keep the English Catholics in hand, notwithstanding the religious innovations and her severity, whilst satisfying others “who want to see her married and are scandalised at her doings.” But the Bishop disbelieved in the marriage unless she were driven to it. Whilst Ravenstein was being caressed106 and befooled, the French were doing their best to hinder an understanding with him. There were sundry107 French noblemen in London as hostages—and very troublesome guests they were—who industriously108 spread the idea that it was ungrateful of the Queen to disdain109 to marry one of her own subjects who had raised her to the throne. When Ravenstein discussed this view with her, “she was very vexed110, and repeated to him that she would die a thousand deaths rather than marry one of her subjects; but for all this,” says the Bishop, “he does not seem to have got any further than usual with his master’s affair.” And Bishop Quadra and his master were determined111 he should not do so, except with Spanish intervention112 and on Spanish terms, which would make the marriage impossible in England. Things were thus going prosperously for Dudley. The Swedish embassy had come and gone, “much aggrieved114 and offended ... as they were being made fun of in the palace, and by the Queen more than anybody. I do not think it matters much whether they depart pleased40 or displeased115.”22 It was clear that Elizabeth would have nothing to do with “Eric the Bad,” and the Archduke was now the only serious competitor; which exactly suited Dudley, as he knew the insuperable religious obstacles that could be raised to him.
But Dudley was not by any means the only artful or self-seeking man in Elizabeth’s Court, and was not allowed to have all his own way. The real difficulties of the marriage with the Archduke, hampered as he would be by unacceptable Spanish conditions, were soon obvious to the Protestant party, who tried a bold stroke, which, if their weapon had been a strong instead of a lamentably116 weak one, might have altered the whole course of English history. To a French Catholic princess, as Queen of Scotland and heiress to the crown of England, the natural counterpoise was a close alliance between England and Spain; but the Protestants saw that, from a religious point of view, one position was as bad as the other, and conceived the idea of encouraging the claims of a son of the house of Hamilton, who, after Mary, was next heir to the crown of Scotland. The Earl of Arran, son of the Duke of Chatelherault was in France; and Cecil’s henchmen, Randolph and Killigrew, were sent backwards117 and forwards to him and to Throgmorton, in Paris, to urge him to action. If he could raise a revolution in Scotland against papists and foreigners, and seize the crown, he might, thought Cecil, marry Elizabeth, unite the two countries, and defy their enemies. Trouble in Scotland was easily aroused; but the King of France, just before his own death, which raised41 Mary Stuart to the throne of France as well, learnt of the plan and ordered Arran’s capture alive or dead. Killigrew managed to smuggle118 him out of France disguised as a merchant, and took him to Geneva and Zurich, where he sat at the feet of Peter Martyr22 and other reformers, and then as secretly was hurried over to England in July, 1559. The Spanish party and the Emperor’s ambassador soon got wind of it, and were in dismay. The Earl was hidden first in Cecil’s house, and was afterwards conveyed secretly to the Queen’s chambers119 at Greenwich. The news soon spread, and the marriage was looked upon, all through August and part of September, as a settled thing;23 and, although Bedford and Cecil went out of their way to buoy120 up the hopes of a marriage with the Archduke, it was clear to the Spanish party that Arran was the favoured man, the more especially that Mary Stuart’s husband had now become King of France. But this did not suit Dudley. Early in September Lady Mary Sidney, Dudley’s sister, came to the Spanish ambassador with a wonderful story that a plot had been discovered to poison the Queen and Dudley at a dinner given by the Earl of Arundel. This, she said, had so alarmed the Queen, who had now a war with France on her hands, that she had determined to marry at once, and awaited the ambassador at Hampton Court with the offer of the Archduke, whom she would accept. Lady Sidney professed121 to be acting122 with the Queen’s consent, and emphatically insisted that, if the matter were now pushed and the Archduke brought over at42 once, it could be concluded without delay. The cunning Bishop himself was for once taken in. Before going to Hampton Court he saw Dudley, who placed himself entirely123 at the disposal of the King of Spain, “to whom he owed his life.” He said the Queen had summoned him and his sister the night before, and had directed them how to proceed. The marriage, he assured the Bishop, was now necessary and could be effected.
The Bishop wrote to Cardinal124 de Granvelle directly after the interview: “Lord Robert and his sister are certainly acting splendidly, and the King will have to reward them well—better than he does me—and your Lordship must remind him of it in due time. The question of religion is of the most vital importance, as is also the manner of the Archduke’s marriage and its conditions and ceremonies. In view of these difficulties it would be better for the wedding to be a clandestine125 one. I do not know how he will get over the oath that he will have to take to conform with the laws of the land, which are some of them schismatic.”24
The Bishop’s interview with the Queen, however, fairly mystified him. She blew hot and cold as usual. “She hoped to God that no harm would come to the Archduke on his incognito126 visit; she would be glad to see him; but mind,” she said, “I am not bound to marry him if he come,” which the Bishop assured the Emperor “was only dissimulation127, and she really meant to marry him.” She was very careful to repeat that she had not invited the Archduke, and was not bound to marry him, and went so far as to say she could not trust Quadra to state this43 clearly, and would write to the Emperor herself. But whilst she said it in words she took equal care to contradict it in looks and gestures that could never be called up in witness against her. The Bishop was at last completely won over, and strongly urged the Emperor to send his son and seize the prize. This new turn of events hardly pleased Cecil, but it was necessary for him to dissemble, for Elizabeth was now at war with France and Scotland, and she could not afford to give the cold shoulder to Spain as well. When the Bishop saw him on leaving the Queen, he says: “I listened to him (Cecil) for some time, and seeing that he was beating about the bush, I begged that we might speak plainly to each other, as I was neither blind nor deaf, and could easily perceive that the Queen was not taking this step, to refuse her consent after all. He swore that he did not know, and could not assure me,” and with this, and vague protestations of Cecil’s personal wish for the Archduke’s success, the Bishop had to be contented128. He faithfully conveyed the Queen’s words to the Emperor, but her looks and gestures could not be put upon paper, so that it is not surprising that his Majesty could see no further assurance than before that he was not to be fooled after all. Feria was more deeply versed129 in the ways of women than was the Bishop, and on receiving the news, answered: “It seems that the Emperor up to the present refuses leave for his son to go, and, to tell the truth, I cannot persuade myself that he is wrong, nor do I believe that she will either marry him, or refuse to marry him whilst the matter at issue is only his visit.... As to what Lord Robert and his sister say, I do not believe44 more than the first day that the only thing the Queen is stickling for is the coming of the lad.” There was one point touched upon by the Queen in her interview with the Spanish ambassador, which, as he tells his own master, he dared not refer to in his letter to the Emperor. After much fencing and fishing for compliments respecting her personal attractions, and expressed doubts on the Queen’s part as to whether the Archduke would be satisfied when he saw her, she said that even if he were, he might be displeased with what he heard about her, as there were people in the country who took pleasure in maligning130 her. The Bishop wrote that she displayed some signs of shame when she said this, whilst he parried the point diplomatically, and hastened to change the subject. “I saw she was pleased, as she no doubt thought that if the Archduke heard any of the idle tales they tell about her (and they tell many) he might take advantage of them to the detriment131 of her honour if the match were broken off, although, from this point of view, I was not sorry, as the fear may not be without advantage to us.” But to the Queen he expressed himself shocked that she should think of such a thing as he had done previously132 when Lady Sidney had hinted at a similar doubt. For the next two months an elaborate attempt was made to keep up the appearance of cordiality towards the Archduke’s match, and the Spanish party was still further beguiled133 by the sudden tendency of the Queen to smile on Catholicism. Candles and crucifixes were placed on the altar in the Chapel Royal, and the Queen entertained the Bishop with long religious discussions, for the purpose of inducing him to believe45 that she was a Catholic in her heart. But they could not deceive the Bishop for very long; nothing definite could be got from the Queen, from whose side Dudley never moved, and by the middle of November (1559) the Bishop satisfied himself that he was being played with. A new Swedish embassy had arrived, and was being entertained with hopes for the first time, particularly by Dudley, who thought that the Austrian suit, having now served his turn and eclipsed Arran, was becoming too hot to be safe for him. The Bishop writes: “I noticed Lord Robert was slackening in our business, and favouring the Swedish match, and he had words with his sister because she was carrying our affair further than he desired. I have heard from a certain person who is in the habit of giving me veracious135 news that Lord Robert had sent to poison his wife. Certainly all the Queen has done with us and with the Swede, and will do with all the rest in the matter of her marriage, is only to keep Lord Robert’s enemies and the country engaged with words, until this wicked deed of killing136 his wife is consummated137. I am told some extraordinary things about this intimacy which I would never have believed, only that now I find Lord Robert’s enemies in the Council making no secret of their evil opinion of it.” The Queen tried to face the Bishop with her usual blandishments, but his eyes were opened, and when he pressed the point closely, she became coolly dignified, surprised that she had been misunderstood, and threw over Lady Sidney and Dudley, who reciprocally cast the blame upon each other. The Bishop and the Emperor’s ambassador were furious; and, as the best way to checkmate46 Dudley, approached the Duke of Norfolk, who had been declaiming for some time against the insolence of the rising favourite, saying that if he did not abandon his plans he should not die in his bed, and so forth138. The Duke, who was the most popular as well as the most exalted139 of the English nobles, listened eagerly to anything that should injure Dudley, and promised all his influence and personal prestige in favour of the Archduke. He recommended that the latter should at once come openly in state to England, and he, the Duke, wagered140 his right arm if he did “that all the biggest and best in the land should be on his side.” Whatever may have been passing in Norfolk’s mind, there is no doubt as to what the Bishop’s own plan was, to avenge141 himself for the trick played upon him. He says: “I am of opinion that if the Archduke comes and makes the acquaintance, and obtains the goodwill142 of these people, even if this marriage—of which I have now no hope except by force—should fall through, and any disaster were to befall the Queen, such as may be feared from her bad government, the Archduke might be summoned to marry Lady Catharine (Grey) to whom the kingdom comes if this woman dies. If the Archduke sees Catharine he should so bear himself that she should understand this design, which, in my opinion, will be beneficial and even necessary.” The “design” evidently was the murder of the Queen and Dudley, and the securing of Catharine Grey to the Spanish interest. A daring plan, but requiring bold instruments and swift action. Weak, unstable143 Norfolk was no leader for such an enterprise, as he proved years afterwards. Whilst Quadra was plotting and sulking at47 Durham House, Dudley’s opponents strove to checkmate him by keeping the Archduke’s match afoot. Count Helfenstein had come from the Emperor before the fiasco, and it was now proposed to send special English envoys144 to Austria and to the King of Spain, the purpose of course being to frighten the French into the idea that the matter was settled. One day at Court Dudley and Norfolk came to high words about it. He was neither a good Englishman nor a loyal subject who advised the Queen to marry a foreigner, said Dudley; and on another occasion, Clinton and Arundel actually fell to fisticuffs on the subject. The Swedes had stood less on their dignity than the Austrians, and Eric’s brother, the young Duke of Finland, had come over to press his brother’s suit. When he arrived with vast sums of money for gifts, as before, he preferred rather to become a suitor himself, but with little success. When he begged for a serious audience he was kept so long outside in an antechamber alone that he went away in a huff. The Venetian Tiepolo writes on December 15th, giving an account of Arran’s defeat in Scotland by the French, which, with his growing dementia, spoilt him as a suitor; and Tiepolo goes on to say: “The Queen is still undecided about her marriage, though amongst all the competitors she showed most inclination for the Archduke Charles. The Duke of Finland, second son of the King of Sweden, is with her. He came to favour the suit of his elder brother, and then proposed himself, but the man’s manners did not please the Queen. The second son also of the late John Frederick of Saxony, who heretofore was proposed to the Queen by the French, but was afterwards deserted146 by them48 because they wished her to marry an Englishman ... has not relinquished147 his pretensions148, and has sent Count Mansfeldt to propose to the Queen. The King of Denmark, in like manner, has not failed to exert himself, although the general opinion is that if the affairs of the Earl of Arran prosper113 he will prevail over all competitors.”25
All through the winter of 1559–60 matters thus lingered on. The Bishop plotting and planning for the invasion of England from Flanders, and completely undeceived with regard to the Queen’s matrimonial intentions, whilst the English still desired to keep up an appearance of cordial friendship with the Spanish party, as a counterpoise to the King of France, with whom they were at war in Scotland. The Bishop gives an account of an interview which he and Helfenstein, the new imperial ambassador had with the Queen in February, and it is clear that at this time she was again very anxious to beguile134 the Emperor into sending his son on chance. But Helfenstein was a very different sort of ambassador from Ravenstein, and she could not do much with him; his idea being to hold her at arm’s length until she was forced to write to the Emperor herself, as she promised to do, in which case it would not, he thought, be difficult to construe149 something she might say into a pledge which she could be forced to fulfil. “I do not,” says the Bishop, “treat this matter with her as I formerly150 did, as I want her to understand that I am not deceived by her.” Nor was he for a time deceived by Dudley. “The fellow is ruining the country with his vanity.” “If he lived for another49 year he” (Dudley) said “he would be in a very different position,” and so forth. During the summer an envoy145 named Florent (Ajacet) was sent by Catharine de Medici and her son to propose as a husband for Elizabeth a son of the Duke de Nevers. As may be supposed, such a match—or indeed any match recommended by the consort of her enemy Mary Stuart, with whom her war was hardly ended—did not meet with her approval, and the envoy then went to Bishop Quadra and told him he knew of a certain way of bringing about the marriage with the Archduke. His plan was that the Emperor should prevail upon the King of France to give up Calais to England. This was merely a feeler and absurd, as Francis II. had nothing to gain by the Austrian match, but the Bishop maliciously151 told the Queen the joke, as he called it, whereupon she was very angry that her claim for Calais should be treated so lightly. She then told him that she saw now she must marry without delay, “although with the worst will in the world,” and tried again to lead him to believe that she was anxious to marry the Archduke, “but I fear,” said he, “that it is with the hope of gaining your Majesty’s favour in her cause, as she calls it, with the French.... Religious matters make me believe that in case she determines to marry, she will rather lay hands on any of these heretics than on the Archduke. I understand now that the Earl of Arran is excluded as being poor and of small advantage, and also because he is not considered personally agreeable. They all favour the Prince of Sweden as he is both heretical and rich, and especially Secretary Cecil,50 who would expect to remain at the head of affairs as at present.” Shortly afterwards, in September, 1560, Cecil took the Bishop aside and complained bitterly of Dudley, who he said was trying to turn him out of his place; and then, after exacting152 many pledges of secrecy153, said that the Queen was conducting herself in such a way that he, Cecil, thought of retiring, as he clearly foresaw the ruin of the realm through the Queen’s intimacy with Dudley, whom she meant to marry. He begged the Bishop to remonstrate154 with the Queen, and ended by saying that Dudley was thinking of killing his wife, “who was said to be ill although she was quite well.”26 “The next day,” writes the Bishop, “as she was returning from hunting, the Queen told me that Robert’s wife was dead, or nearly so, and asked me not to say anything about it. Certainly this business is most shameful155 and scandalous; and, withal, I am not sure whether she will marry the man at once or even at all, as I do not think she has her mind sufficiently156 fixed157. Cecil says she wishes to do as her father did.” In a postscript158 of the same letter the writer gives the news of poor Amy Robsart’s death. “She broke her neck—she must have fallen down a staircase, said the Queen.” Thenceforward Dudley was free, and the marriage negotiations had another factor to be taken into account.
About a month afterwards Cecil came to the Bishop and said that as the Queen had personally assured him she would not marry Dudley, he urged him once more to bring the Archduke forward; but Quadra was wary159 now, for he saw the design was51 only to arouse the fears of the French, and he would take no hasty step. It is difficult to see how he could have done so, for, after sending three ambassadors, the Emperor had now quite made up his mind that the Queen should not again play with him. Every weapon in the feminine battery had been employed—maiden coyness, queenly reserve, womanly weakness, and the rest of them, had been tried in vain. A good portrait of the Archduke had been sent, and her own agents had seen him. If, said the Emperor, this were not enough, the young man should come himself; but only on a distinct pledge that she would marry him if he did. Beyond this the Emperor would not go, and the Queen always stopped short at a binding promise. Nor, indeed, would the match have pleased the extreme reform party in England led by Cecil, Bedford, and Clinton, which was now the paramount one. It was useful to Cecil, in order to play it as a trump160 card whenever the negotiations with the French rendered it necessary, but, at the time, undoubtedly161 the Swedish match was most in favour with the Protestant party. Prince Eric was very persevering162. When his brother returned to Sweden he proposed to come to England himself, but was induced to delay his visit; according to Throgmorton,27 in order that his father might abdicate163, and he might get better terms. “Both father and son, however, have sent to propose very advantageous164 conditions to the Queen, should she consent to the marriage. They will bind7 themselves to send to England annually165 200,000 crowns to be expended166 for the benefit52 of English subjects, and in time of war to keep fifty armed ships at their own cost, with other private conditions very profitable for England, which the King defers167 making known until his coming to her.” It is evident that Eric was too much in earnest to suit Elizabeth, and she had to behave rudely enough to him on several occasions to prevent his ardour from causing inconvenience. It is more than probable that she deceived Cecil and the rest of her advisers168 as to her matrimonial intentions as completely as she did the suitors themselves, and that she never meant to marry—except perhaps on two occasions, which will be specified169, when circumstances or her feelings nearly drove her to the irrevocable step. Her own motives170 were less complicated than those of her advisers, and the lifelong playing off of France against Spain, of which her matrimonial negotiations were a part, was obviously only possible whilst she kept single; whereas party, religious, and personal affinities171 all operated on the minds of her courtiers and ministers, and, to a certain extent, separated their interests from hers.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
intrigues
|
|
| n.密谋策划( intrigue的名词复数 )；神秘气氛；引人入胜的复杂情节v.搞阴谋诡计( intrigue的第三人称单数 )；激起…的好奇心 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
bishop
|
|
| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
variance
|
|
| n.矛盾，不同 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
supremacy
|
|
| n.至上；至高权力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
kinsmen
|
|
| n.家属，亲属( kinsman的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
binding
|
|
| 有约束力的，有效的，应遵守的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
bind
|
|
| vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
inevitable
|
|
| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
impecunious
|
|
| adj.不名一文的，贫穷的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
disposition
|
|
| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
majesty
|
|
| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
jealousy
|
|
| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
reign
|
|
| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
degradation
|
|
| n.降级；低落；退化；陵削；降解；衰变 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
rhetoric
|
|
| n.修辞学，浮夸之言语 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
bribes
|
|
| n.贿赂( bribe的名词复数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂v.贿赂( bribe的第三人称单数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
expenditure
|
|
| n.(时间、劳力、金钱等)支出；使用，消耗 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
scattering
|
|
| n.[物]散射；散乱，分散；在媒介质中的散播adj.散乱的；分散在不同范围的；广泛扩散的；（选票）数量分散的v.散射(scatter的ing形式)；散布；驱散 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
antiquity
|
|
| n.古老；高龄；古物，古迹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
aspiring
|
|
| adj.有志气的；有抱负的；高耸的v.渴望；追求 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
comely
|
|
| adj.漂亮的，合宜的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
martyr
|
|
| n.烈士，殉难者；vt.杀害，折磨，牺牲 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
broach
|
|
| v.开瓶，提出(题目) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
paramount
|
|
| a.最重要的，最高权力的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
bastard
|
|
| n.坏蛋，混蛋；私生子 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
usurper
|
|
| n. 篡夺者, 僭取者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
admiration
|
|
| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
profess
|
|
| v.声称，冒称，以...为业，正式接受入教，表明信仰 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
maiden
|
|
| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
inclination
|
|
| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
favourable
|
|
| adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
grievance
|
|
| n.怨愤，气恼，委屈 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
speculation
|
|
| n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
pomposity
|
|
| n.浮华；虚夸；炫耀；自负 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
steward
|
|
| n.乘务员，服务员；看管人；膳食管理员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
downwards
|
|
| adj./adv.向下的（地），下行的（地） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
consort
|
|
| v.相伴；结交 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
standing
|
|
| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
robust
|
|
| adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
gallant
|
|
| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
Oxford
|
|
| n.牛津（英国城市） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
treacherous
|
|
| adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
regiment
|
|
| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
ascended
|
|
| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
stature
|
|
| n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
intimacy
|
|
| n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
whatsoever
|
|
| adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
chamber
|
|
| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
malady
|
|
| n.病，疾病(通常做比喻) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
promising
|
|
| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
maladroit
|
|
| adj.笨拙的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
monarch
|
|
| n.帝王，君主，最高统治者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
tapestries
|
|
| n.挂毯( tapestry的名词复数 )；绣帷，织锦v.用挂毯（或绣帷）装饰( tapestry的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
lavished
|
|
| v.过分给予，滥施( lavish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
dignified
|
|
| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
ridiculed
|
|
| v.嘲笑，嘲弄，奚落( ridicule的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
negotiation
|
|
| n.谈判，协商 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
sincerity
|
|
| n.真诚，诚意；真实 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
unreasonably
|
|
| adv. 不合理地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
hampered
|
|
| 妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
dictated
|
|
| v.大声讲或读( dictate的过去式和过去分词 )；口授；支配；摆布 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
influential
|
|
| adj.有影响的，有权势的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
advent
|
|
| n.(重要事件等的)到来，来临 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
lamentable
|
|
| adj.令人惋惜的，悔恨的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
remains
|
|
| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
baron
|
|
| n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
devout
|
|
| adj.虔诚的，虔敬的，衷心的 (n.devoutness) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
bland
|
|
| adj.淡而无味的，温和的，无刺激性的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
favourably
|
|
| adv. 善意地，赞成地 =favorably | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
colloquy
|
|
| n.谈话，自由讨论 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
affinity
|
|
| n.亲和力，密切关系 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
kindly
|
|
| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
worthy
|
|
| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
dreaded
|
|
| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
pricked
|
|
| 刺，扎，戳( prick的过去式和过去分词 )； 刺伤； 刺痛； 使剧痛 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
nun
|
|
| n.修女，尼姑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
homage
|
|
| n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
humbling
|
|
| adj.令人羞辱的v.使谦恭( humble的现在分词 )；轻松打败（尤指强大的对手）；低声下气 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
quagmire
|
|
| n.沼地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
displease
|
|
| vt.使不高兴，惹怒；n.不悦，不满，生气 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
81
soothed
|
|
| v.安慰( soothe的过去式和过去分词 )；抚慰；使舒服；减轻痛苦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
82
persiflage
|
|
| n.戏弄；挖苦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
83
disconsolate
|
|
| adj.忧郁的，不快的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
84
suite
|
|
| n.一套(家具)；套房；随从人员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
85
ruffling
|
|
| 弄皱( ruffle的现在分词 )； 弄乱； 激怒； 扰乱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
86
solitary
|
|
| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
87
grandeur
|
|
| n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
88
insolence
|
|
| n.傲慢；无礼；厚颜；傲慢的态度 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
89
pugnacious
|
|
| adj.好斗的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
90
irate
|
|
| adj.发怒的，生气 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
91
knight
|
|
| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
92
immediate
|
|
| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
93
chapel
|
|
| n.小教堂，殡仪馆 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
94
impudent
|
|
| adj.鲁莽的，卑鄙的，厚颜无耻的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
95
knave
|
|
| n.流氓；（纸牌中的）杰克 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
96
aspirants
|
|
| n.有志向或渴望获得…的人( aspirant的名词复数 )v.渴望的，有抱负的，追求名誉或地位的( aspirant的第三人称单数 )；有志向或渴望获得…的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
97
negotiations
|
|
| 协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
98
maladroitly
|
|
| adv.不灵巧地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
99
jeered
|
|
| v.嘲笑( jeer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
100
discreet
|
|
| adj.(言行)谨慎的；慎重的；有判断力的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
101
maidenly
|
|
| adj. 像处女的, 谨慎的, 稳静的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
102
promptly
|
|
| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
103
possessed
|
|
| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
104
averse
|
|
| adj.厌恶的；反对的，不乐意的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
105
cinders
|
|
| n.煤渣( cinder的名词复数 )；炭渣；煤渣路；煤渣跑道 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
106
caressed
|
|
| 爱抚或抚摸…( caress的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
107
sundry
|
|
| adj.各式各样的，种种的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
108
industriously
|
|
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
109
disdain
|
|
| n.鄙视，轻视；v.轻视，鄙视，不屑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
110
vexed
|
|
| adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
111
determined
|
|
| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
112
intervention
|
|
| n.介入，干涉，干预 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
113
prosper
|
|
| v.成功，兴隆，昌盛；使成功，使昌隆，繁荣 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
114
aggrieved
|
|
| adj.愤愤不平的，受委屈的；悲痛的；（在合法权利方面）受侵害的v.令委屈，令苦恼，侵害( aggrieve的过去式)；令委屈，令苦恼，侵害( aggrieve的过去式和过去分词) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
115
displeased
|
|
| a.不快的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
116
lamentably
|
|
| adv.哀伤地，拙劣地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
117
backwards
|
|
| adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
118
smuggle
|
|
| vt.私运；vi.走私 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
119
chambers
|
|
| n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
120
buoy
|
|
| n.浮标；救生圈；v.支持，鼓励 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
121
professed
|
|
| 公开声称的，伪称的，已立誓信教的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
122
acting
|
|
| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
123
entirely
|
|
| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
124
cardinal
|
|
| n.(天主教的)红衣主教；adj.首要的，基本的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
125
clandestine
|
|
| adj.秘密的，暗中从事的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
126
incognito
|
|
| adv.匿名地；n.隐姓埋名；adj.化装的，用假名的，隐匿姓名身份的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
127
dissimulation
|
|
| n.掩饰，虚伪，装糊涂 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
128
contented
|
|
| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
129
versed
|
|
| adj. 精通，熟练 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
130
maligning
|
|
| vt.污蔑，诽谤（malign的现在分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
131
detriment
|
|
| n.损害；损害物，造成损害的根源 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
132
previously
|
|
| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
133
beguiled
|
|
| v.欺骗( beguile的过去式和过去分词 )；使陶醉；使高兴；消磨（时间等） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
134
beguile
|
|
| vt.欺骗，消遣 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
135
veracious
|
|
| adj.诚实可靠的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
136
killing
|
|
| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
137
consummated
|
|
| v.使结束( consummate的过去式和过去分词 )；使完美；完婚；（婚礼后的）圆房 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
138
forth
|
|
| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
139
exalted
|
|
| adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
140
wagered
|
|
| v.在（某物）上赌钱，打赌( wager的过去式和过去分词 )；保证，担保 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
141
avenge
|
|
| v.为...复仇，为...报仇 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
142
goodwill
|
|
| n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
143
unstable
|
|
| adj.不稳定的，易变的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
144
envoys
|
|
| 使节( envoy的名词复数 )； 公使； 谈判代表； 使节身份 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
145
envoy
|
|
| n.使节，使者，代表，公使 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
146
deserted
|
|
| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
147
relinquished
|
|
| 交出，让给( relinquish的过去式和过去分词 )； 放弃 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
148
pretensions
|
|
| 自称( pretension的名词复数 )； 自命不凡； 要求； 权力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
149
construe
|
|
| v.翻译，解释 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
150
formerly
|
|
| adv.从前，以前 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
151
maliciously
|
|
| adv.有敌意地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
152
exacting
|
|
| adj.苛求的，要求严格的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
153
secrecy
|
|
| n.秘密，保密，隐蔽 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
154
remonstrate
|
|
| v.抗议，规劝 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
155
shameful
|
|
| adj.可耻的，不道德的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
156
sufficiently
|
|
| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
157
fixed
|
|
| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
158
postscript
|
|
| n.附言，又及；(正文后的)补充说明 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
159
wary
|
|
| adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
160
trump
|
|
| n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
161
undoubtedly
|
|
| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
162
persevering
|
|
| a.坚忍不拔的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
163
abdicate
|
|
| v.让位，辞职，放弃 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
164
advantageous
|
|
| adj.有利的；有帮助的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
165
annually
|
|
| adv.一年一次，每年 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
166
expended
|
|
| v.花费( expend的过去式和过去分词 )；使用（钱等）做某事；用光；耗尽 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
167
defers
|
|
| v.拖延，延缓，推迟( defer的第三人称单数 )；服从某人的意愿，遵从 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
168
advisers
|
|
| 顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
169
specified
|
|
| adj.特定的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
170
motives
|
|
| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
171
affinities
|
|
| n.密切关系( affinity的名词复数 )；亲近；（生性）喜爱；类同 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |